Just opened! Brand new Children’s Museum at the War Memorial of Korea

The War Memorial of Korea just opened a brand new Children’s Museum, compact yet packed with great activities. Colourful, imaginative and free for all!

We stumbled across the new Children’s Museum during one of our occasional stops at the War Memorial – which in itself is so large, rich and varied that you may already spend a few days visiting it in full. Just behind the outdoor section showcasing dozens of wartime ships, vessels and aircrafts (one of our kids’s favorite corners), an aisle of the building was previously used for wedding ceremonies in traditional style. It has now been fully re-designed and re-purposed as a kids edutainment center.

Before or after visiting the Children’s Museum itself, take your time and have fun at the outdoor playground. Kids can run, jump, slide while you can enjoy great views at the nearby Namsan N Seoul Tower.

Outdoor playground

Rolling ball pendulum by the entrance hall

Children’s Library

At the entrance past the Information/Ticket desk, you will first find a few facilities: waiting room, reading corner, colorful restrooms… Entry times run according to fixed schedules and you may have to wait a little while before being invited to start your tour.

Once you enter, there are five sections combining a mixture of educational material, games and videos.

Children’s Museum War Memorial – Map

In the first section “War History of Korea“, there is a pretend fortress wall, a big photo-zone Joseon dynasty poster and small alcoves with short history clips. Next, “Sorrow over the lost country” depicts symbolic scenes reflecting the struggle for independence. In the “Unfinished War” part, children are introduced to the Korean war. A large wall shows all the countries involved in this war (kids will have to pair countries and matching flags); children can also walk on a trick-eye broken bridge without falling into a pretend river.

Photo-zone Joseon times

Learning about Korea’s history

Flags of the World

The following section is probably the best one. Entitled “Wish for Peace“, it features a nice spider-web and mini climbing wall playground, an indoor soft-shapes construction area and a movie room. Our kids stayed in this section the longest and had lots of fun! Finally in “My dear country Korea“, children are introduced with the Korean anthem and can practice drawing the Korean national flag.

There is also a small cafe and a souvenir shop.

Cafe and Souvenir Shop

Overall, this was fun and very interactive. The war theme is obviously well present throughout the visit, in pretty much the same fashion as it is omnipresent in the main building of the War Memorial. Still it is rendered with younger kids in mind and we did not feel it was sinister or scary at all. But better be aware of it. Children may not necessarily fully identify the war theme during the visit however you shall potentially be ready to answer some questions!

Opening hours:Tuesday~Sunday 9:00 ~ 18:00
Closed every Monday (If a Monday is a holiday, then closed the day after the holiday is over.)

Thank you! I found the museum. I’m so glad you posted about it. In my above post I was referring to the area in the main building that used to have inflatables and other play things. I think it’s gone now because I peeked in the windows where I believe it used to be and the room was empty.

Disappointed with this place. We took the kids 1,3,5 years old. At the play area they were not allowed to play together despite being the only kids there as they had rules on heights in each section. The 3 year old and one year are well able to play on a slide. No other kids were even around. I would say fine if it was super busy. They refused to allow them to play in the playground inside. Had I known I would’ve not bothered and saved myself two disappointed screaming kids. It’s very small. And there are time allocations and a 50 minute allowance to visit. Not worth a trek.